Roller skate



. y 1951 s. L. FULLER 2,553,450

ROLLER SKATE Filed May 21, 1946 By GRANT HILLER.

6 j M f Patented May 15, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ROLLER SKATEGrant L. Fuller, Cleveland Heights, Ohio Application May 21, 1946,Serial No. 671,156

1 Claim. 1

The present invention relates to an improvement in roller skates, and itis particularly directed to the structure by which the foot plate issupported by the trucks.

. An object of the invention is to provide a structure by which the footplate may be yieldingly tilted relative to the trucks supporting thefoot plate and which structure offers a minimum of friction andresistance between parts interconnecting the trucks and the foot plateso that a' consistently smooth tilting action will result. Anotherobject of the invention is to provide astructure for mounting a skatetruck to the foot plate of the skate so that the truck will be returnedto exact straight ahead position when the foot plate is returned tohorizontal after being tilted for turning the truck one di-' rection orthe other.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from thefollowing description of a preferred form of the embodiment of theinvention, reference being made to the accompanying drawings wherein;

' Fig. 1 is a top plan view of a roller skate embodying my invention;

, Fig. 2 is a longitudinal view, partly in section, of the skate; I

Fig. 3 is a view taken substantially on line 3-3 of Fig. 2; and,

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary bottom plan view of one of the trucks of theskate.

In a certain type of skate heretofore in common use, the skate consistedof a foot plate supported by two trucks in such a way that by tiltingthe foot plate relative to the trucks, the trucks would turn, accordingto the direction of tilt of the plate, whereby the skate could besteered by the skater. To provide accurate control of the skate,resilient blocks were mounted between'thefoot plate and each of thetrucks so that the blocks would provide resiliency in the tilting ofthe. foot plate from its normal plane. In connecting the block to theskate,

one form of the invention embodied in a skate which will be seen tocomprise a foot plate I having a toe plate portion la. and a heel plateportion lb.

Secured to the aforesaid toeand heel plate portions, as by means ofrivets 2, are hangers a rod, generally in the form of a bolt, was rig-'3, each of which is formed to provide a downwardly extending inclinedsocket portion 3a and a downwardly extending inclined pivot or thrustmember 31), the lower end of which is smoothly -rounded. The member 312of each hanger is inclined in an opposite direction to the socket 3a ofthat hanger, but the sockets and thrust members of each hanger areinclined oppositely to the corresponding socket and element of the othermember.

The skate further includes trucks 4, each of which comprises an axleportion 5 in the form of a transversely extending tubular structure inwhich an axle or spindle 6 is mounted and secured against rotation as bymeans of a pin 1 (Fig. 2). Extending vertically upward from the axleportion 5 of each truck is an arm 8, which is formed integrally withsuch axle portion, and the upper end of which is recessed as at 9 forthe reception of a socket element II], the element ll] being preferablymade of a wear-resisting steel and being secured in such recess by apressed fit. The socket element I0 is recessed to provide a smoothlyrounded seat or thrust surface for the pivot member 3b. The lower end ofthe member 3b is preferably of hemispherical form, and the thrustsurface of the socket element I0 is likewise of hemispherical form, soas to provide, in efiect, a ball and socket joint between these parts,permitting substantially universal movement of the truck relatively tothe hanger. The upper portion of the wall of the recess in the socketelement It! is flared to permit such universal movement.

Each of the trucks further includes, as an integral part thereof, a baseplate II, the plane of which is substantially normal to the axis of thesocket portion 3a of the hanger 3. The plate II is provided with anelongated opening or slot l2 extending generally longitudinally relativeto the skate and-"at right angles to the axle, and the walls of whichslot are flared for a purpose to be presently described. The plate II isfurther provided with a peripheral flange I3. The plate I I forms a seatfor a resilient element, such as a body of rubber I4, the base of whichis confined by the flange I3. The rubber body I4 is preferably, but notnecessarily, of conical form and the upper end thereof is confinedwithin an inverted metallic retaining cap or cup I6, between which andthe lower end of the socket 311 a nut 11 is interposed. The body I4 hasan axially extending opening therethrough that is in alignment with theslot I2 the openings through the body- I4 and cap. [6,:

I 4 may be adjusted by threading the rod into or out of the socket 311..This changes the position of the head 24 of the rod relative to the footplate and the base plate is also moved accordingly.

The skate further includes the frame bar 20 having upturned ends 2|which are interposed between the nuts I! and the retainer caps I6.

Due to the aforesaid pivotal connections, the foot plate and otherportions of the skate which are rigidlyfconnected to the foot plate maytilt in all directions relatively to the trucks, this -tilting movementbeing resisted and controlled by therubber body I4.

--It will be apparent, that by my invention,

thef'sk'at'e can be effected, thereby offering the skater more accuratemaneuverability and through an opening through a frame bar 20 and isthreaded into the :socket 3a and extends at right an les relative to thebase plate. The lock'nut I! is threaded on the rod intermediate thesocket 3a and the frame bar 28 for locking the rod I8 againstunintentional rotation. The lower end of the rod I8' is provided with aslotted head 24 and the under side 25 of the head isv in the form of aspherical section, the radius of which is indicated at 26, as isillustrated in Fig. 3. The central portion of the undersuriace of'theplate II is in the form of a cylindrical section 21 with the slot I2extending parallelv with the axis of the section. In the present fPlm fthe invention I prefer to use a steel washer which is. oval shaped andhas an opening corresponding to the slot I2. The washer 28 iscylindriform so'that it nests in the concave' section 21 and presents ahard cylindr ical sectional surfacefor engagement by the head 24 of therod i8. The radius of the cylindricalsurface of the washer is indicatedat' 2 9 and it is longer than that of the spherical.

24 and the surface of the washer being tangen-j tialor a pivotingcontact, resistance to tilting of'the footplate. I bythe engagementbetween the head 2 of rod 58. and the'base plate II is at a minimum andwhat resistance that does exist will be constant. This cylindricalsectional surface 21' also causes the truck to center itself withrespect to rod 18 when the foot plate ishorizontal, the curved surfacesexerting com' ponents of'force on the rod head until equilibachieved."Thus the skate irlay lpewaccurately steered and greater control isaiforded;

. In order to eliminate friction between the rod I8 andthe rubber bodyI4, the body it is undercut at .30 to form a circular recessabout theopening therethrough, and the rod I3 is undercut at.3I to avoid contactwithrubber which may bulgeinwardly. The undercut portion BI, togetherwith the flared walls of slot l2, also enables considerable swinging ofthe rod Without abutting the base plate iI. Also, by undercutting therubber body at 39, when thebody' I4 is compressed, the rubber thereofmay press downwardly but will not enter the slot I2;

Otherwise, a rigid washer would be required to prevent entrance 01: therubber into the slot.

"It will be seen that compression of It will be seen that when the 'rodI8 th q f stability than can be had with previously known skates.

Although Ihave described but one form, of my invention, it will beunderstood that other forms might be adopted, all falling within thescope of the claim which follow.

I claim:

opening therethrough, the under surface of the base plate .adjacent tothe slotted opening being concave and cylindriform; a resilient bodyintermediate the base plate and the foot plate" for yieldingly resistingtilting of the footplate,

said body having an opening therethrough inf registration with theopening; in said :base plate;; and a rod having one end connected'to thefoot plate and extending through said opening" through the body and thebase plate, said rod beingin frictional contact with the walls of; the vw I substantially throughout the length of the opening, saidrod; alsohaving a head at the other end thereof. engageable with the base platefor positioning; the base plate relative to the foot plate, thesurfaceof said head engaging the base plate. being spheriforrn and having aradius less than that of said cylindriform base plate surface whereby apivotal contact is established between the engaging surfaces of the headand base opening through 7 said body plate when the rod'is tiltedrelative to the base plate, the resilient body having a recess thereinabout the opening therein and in the face of the body resting on saidbase plate, and said rod having an undercut portion extending from thehead thereof substantially into the re"cess' into said resilient body.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the? file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS GRANT L. FUL ER.

L i h. Nov 11. .1941:

